Welcome to the second half of Operational Geotechs’ chat with co-founder and director Ben Barsanti.
Welcome to the second half of Operational Geotechs’ chat with co-founder and director Ben Barsanti.
In part two of this series, Ben talks about taking the first steps to expand OG’s Canadian operations, provides details of an upcoming OG event in Vancouver and shares tales of black bears in the suburbs!
Thanks for reading; we’ll touch base with another e-update soon.
Expanding in Canada
Q Ben, OG is looking to grow the local Canadian team. How’s that progressing?
A It’s going really well. We advertised recently for an engineer and had an overwhelming response.
We eventually narrowed down the applicants and went through the OG story, what we’re about, and what we’re trying to do here in Canada. Our purpose is to essentially replicate the on-site support model that we do in Australia, which everyone was pretty excited about. This process uncovered a handful of really good candidates of different experience levels who we can employ based on client demands.
We were excited to welcome Mahir Karahan to the team as a Geotechnical EIT (engineer in training) and have a highly skilled senior engineer currently being onboarded and ready to start early 2026.
The OG Way
Q Why do you think there is so much interest in OG’s Canadian engineer role?
A We find what professionals like about OG is not only the practicality of our model ie. That they actually get to be out on site but also the mentoring we provide. They value knowing that they’re not in it all by themselves and that I’m going to come out and visit and help with their development or any issues that arise.
They also like OG’s company-wide technical forum platform because it’s an ideal way for them to troubleshoot at any time using the knowledge and experience of our entire team.
Then, there’s the travel side of it. Our people can live anywhere; they don’t have to be in a remote town and where you’re based doesn’t really hamper your employment opportunities. In Canada, the rosters are a bit longer also, so if you lose half a day or a day travelling to and from site, it’s not as impactful on your R&R and time at home.
Coming Up
Q Are there any upcoming events you’ll be attending?
A Yes, we’re excited to be a trade exhibitor at the Australian Centre for Geomechanics’ (ACG) 4th International Slope Stability in Mining Conference, which is happening in Vancouver in late October. We have myself, Sachin Weerasooriya and Perth-based senior OG open pit geotech engineer Liam Ireland attending the event. I’m really looking forward to catching up with the OG crew, see old friends and meet some new faces.
Following this event, I’ll be heading to Switzerland to attend the Master Builders Solutions Injection & Sprayed Shotcrete Workshops. These workshops are hands-on and we’ll see first hand the practical applications of admixtures and products for ground consolidation, rock bolting, water egress reduction.
Soaking Up The Sights
Q Your whole family relocated to Vancouver. A year on, how are they finding it?
A Everyone’s loving life here. There are a lot of similarities between Australians and Canadians; the way we go about life, and that people are generally very friendly and welcoming.
The biggest difference is probably the landscape. The beaches are very rocky, but we’ve got amazing mountains, hills, trails, and trees. The kids love getting up Grouse Mountain to see the large purpose-built habitat where you can see resident grizzly bears, Coola and Grinder.
We’ve had a busy summer with a cruise along the coast to Alaska, a visit to BC’s wine region, Okanagan Valley, and visits to Vancouver and Bowen Islands. We’ve also been making the most of the summer weather with local trips around North & West Vancouver and swimming in the creek that runs next to our street. I also teamed up with a footy club to run an Auskick clinic to get kids into AFL!
Locally, we’ve had humpback whales, seals and orcas in the harbour right here in Vancouver. The bears have been back out and we’ve had a visit or two in the front yard. I think they might be scared to come any closer to the house because the kids are screaming and yelling too much! We were lucky enough to watch a black bear eating berries of the ground while another one was up the tree shaking the berries down.
Winter is fasting approaching so we’ll turn our attention to the upcoming ski season and getting to some hockey games.
